ECOCLUB Blogs™

Greetings,Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries August Newsletter is up.It's officially hot and sunny until further notice. If we don't have to cook, we won't.http://www.cookingincrete.com/CCS-Newslett...ummer-2008.htmlAll the best,Nik

Greetings,Scholarships are available for Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries Seminar Series: Cuisine from the Ground Up, focus on traditional, sustainable foodwaysOctober 12 - 18, 2008, Crete, Greece. An accredited program for professionals from the agriculture, culinary arts and sustainable development fields. Presentations by sustainable organic farmers, chefs, vintners, botanists, nature conservationists and historians. Limited to 12 participants. 35 CE hours (CDR and ACF). Coordinated with Field to Plate USA. Details are on our website www.cookingincrete.com.All the best,Nikki and the CCS NetworkCCS is an acclaimed program for best practices in responsible travel

Iceland is gaining a reputation as the hottest ‘cool’ destination in the Atlantic because of its stunning scenery and unique geothermal features. What is less well known is the abundance of wildlife watching opportunities found here. Located at 66° North, Iceland lets its visitors look at the Arctic Circle.Iceland is also a great place to cast your gaze on several species of whales including Minke, Humpback, Sperm, Sei and the rare Blue whale. It is estimated that 14 species of whales reside or travel through the waters around this island nation.Reaching Iceland for whale watching is relatively easy despite its location near the top of the world. Daily flights from North America and Europe arrive in Reykjavik; from here you can hope a short domestic flight to the city of Akureyri. An hour’s drive east will bring you to Husavik, often called the whale watching capital of Europe. The Husavik harbor, surrounded by high mountain peaks, offers stunning photo ops and is home base for several whale watching companies.The traditional wooden boats found in the Husavik harbor are beautiful to behold and comfortable for travel if you can handle the sway. It’s a bit more noticeable than on bigger and newer...

one of the axioms of economics is that there are no free meals. FreeRice.com disagrees. Play a word definition game, win and donate 20 grains of rice each time to the UN World Food Program, as an advertisers banner is displayed. Hmmm, every time the banner is from...Unilever. ...So I tried the word game and made Unilever pay for a whopping 2,500 grains of rice. What nonsense.

Once more, fires decimating what's left of suburban forests in Athens. 'Arsonists', 'usual suspects' etc. are blamed by gullible & hysteric media, as they are convenient for the inadequacy & indifference of officials, who can spend millions on fire-fighting aircraft (with some associates pocketing some nice commissions), but can find no funds to adequately pay, train, equip, dress or hire firemen, municipal workers and volunteers, so that the highly-flammable pine forests can be relatively clear of fallen branches and leaves, monitored and patrolled. Oh yes, and our army is busy cleaning toilets, fighting in exotic places where our good allies arm-twisted it to be, going shopping (and elsewhere) with the wives of generals, and heroically blocking the entry to fortress Europe to impoverished immigrants escaping the wars of our allies...

The Ancient Nemean Games (NEMEIA), one of the four major athletic events of ancient Greece (others were Olympeia, Isthmeia & Delpheia) were revived once more in the ancient stadium of Nemea, in the Peloponnese, Greece, on Solstice Day. 600 athletes from around the world, clad in tunics, run barefoot in the ancient stadium, to earn nothing more than palm branches and wild celery.BBC Video - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7470858.stmSociety of the Revival of the Nemean GamesNemea Excavations - University of California, Berkeley

QUOTEI am not a labor leader. I don't want you to follow me or anyoneelse. If you are looking for a Moses to lead you out of the capitalistwilderness you will stay right where you are. I would not lead you intothis promised land if I could, because if I could lead you in, someoneelse would lead you out. John dos Passos, The 42nd Parallel (1930)

Gunter Wallraf, father of undercover journalism, defender of human rights and immigrant rights, now turns his sights against supermarket chains and exposes the dark side of consumerism.See the video:http://www.zeit.de/2008/19/Wallraff-19This Giant was once arrested and tortured by my country's dictatorship, back in 1974 when he had the idea to protest in favour of human rights, by chaining himself to an electricity post next to the parliament, in Syntagma square (Constitution square) of Athens, handing out leaflets, and deliberately carrying no ID papers on him, so that he would be considered a Greek and certainly be detained.In his appearance in the court, he pointed out the ignorance/indifference of Tourists then visiting Greece about the ugliness of the dictatorship, and he attributed it to lack of information in the press.He was sentenced to 14 months, but was released in 3 months as the regime collapsed.How many tourists today visit similar regimes, just to bask in the sun? How long can human rights abuses be filed under 'cultural differences' , 'cultural sensitivity' & 'respect to local culture'. There is but one Culture, the Human one, and Gunter Wallraff shows the way to real travellers - each one can be an undercover journalist! And I would...

The right guide can make or break a tour and go a long way to building a successful company. We’d like to hear your stories about encounters with a great guide or interpreter or someone else who helped you enjoy an outdoor experience. Send us a few words (250 or less) of great or funny guiding and we will run the best ones in future issues of our newsletter, EcoTourism Management. It is a great way to garner recognition for those people who are the heart and soul of nature tourism. Send your entries by June 30 to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. If you’d like to read about my encounter with a great guide check out the latest issue of EcoTourism Management at www.kalahari-online.com/spr08.pdf.

Greetings,Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries is a finalist in National Geographic's Geotourism Challenge. The competition aims to identify innovations in tourism that sustain, enhance and preserve local culture and place. Competition winners are decided by public votes. So please vote for CCS and tell 2000 friends. Voting concludes on June 11. Voters are required to register first and select 3 favorite entries. Just make sure one of them is CCS.Here's the link: http://www.changemakers.net/node/2104/voteThis is a very important outlet to create awareness of the importance of community-based programs that help to protect Crete's significant cultural and natural heritage. Support of the practitioners is crucial. Please vote by June 11.All the best,Nikki